a game of survival
by vamgogh
Summary: ichigo/orihime, zombie AU– look how easy it is to catch the feeble without trying, it is a good thing that there is still people who serve and protect those in need. it is survival of the fittest in this world.
1. run, run, run as fast as you can

**chapter title:** run, run, _run_ as fast as you can  
><strong>summary:<strong> —_in which she runs, stumbles, and falls until he finds her__.  
><em>**disclaimer:** bleach belongs to tite kubo

* * *

><p>Her blood pounds in her ears as she runs, her breaths coming out in short gasps and her heart ramming against her rib cage in an uncontrollable beat. She has been running a long time now, hours maybe, though in reality it has been less. It has been minutes, probably even seconds since she has begun running for her life.<p>

The only thing she knows for certain is that it has been _far_ too long.

Her legs feel numb, her body is responding slower to her commands with every passing moment; her thoughts becoming more and more muddled and foggy. She is in a state of confusion, unable to fully grasp what she is doing beyond fleeing. Nothing in her brain is working the way it should be.

Pain is the only thing she can still feel and understand; bruises mar her body, visible in every part of her exhausted body. A wound is bleeding freely through the side of her already sweat soak shirt. The blood drips on to the floor as she runs, leaving a red trial behind her. But still, she continues to run and press forward her unresponsive body because the only thing she has to do right now is run, and keep on running.

She knows that running is only making it worse for her and easier for _them_ because they can follow her through _scent_ alone. She just has to get away though, away from those disgusting rotting creatures whose skin peels off in chunks and who radiate the smell of dead flesh. Just remembering the sight and the unbearable stench makes her want to throw up.

She has to find a way to escape this madness before she loses her sanity.

A shout of shock and pain escapes her lips as she finds herself falling, she is barely able to throw her arms out to catch herself before she slams into the cement ground.

Tears escape her eyes as she tries her best to stand, so she can begin to run again, but she cannot. She fails to suppress the pained sob that leaves her mouth. Her leg is _useless_, falling on broken glass is not helping her escape her current situation. The glass has torn through her jeans and into her leg, leaving a gash that runs down the side of her calf, she has also managed to fall and twist her ankle in a way that has left it throbbing in pain.

Looking up, she sees a chain-link fence, which adds to her growing list of misfortunes. There is no way she is going to be able to run or climb it.

She has to face the facts: she will get caught, she will get turned into a monster, and she has _extremely_ bad luck. That fact alone should have been enough for her to give up a _long_ time ago, but she has not because she is still hopeful that her bad luck streak would end.

As she lays on the floor, her long hair spilling over her, she buries her face into her arms as sobs of pain and tears frustration take over. She weeps because of all the trouble and suffering she has endured to survive, only to end up dead anyway. And then she stills, sniffling, trying to suppress her crying and sobbing because she can't give up and she will not give up.

She might be weak at times, she knows she has not had the best life ever, and that luck is never on her side most of the time but has not given up once.

She will never give up.

She will run and fight to have her chance at survival, just the same as everyone else.

Pushing her upper body up, she maneuvers her hurt leg carefully so that she will not inflict any more damage to it. She grunts in pain as she limps her way to the chain-link fence in front of her, she grabs on to the first link when she hears it.

The sound of metal crashing against the walls of the alley she is in, coupled with the sound of multiple feet dragging along. That sound is enough to make her freeze, to make her eyes grow wide in panic, and to make her fear rocket unbelievably. That same fear though, is the one that pushes her forward to continue attempting to climb the fence.

"Please," she begs, almost sobbing "_Please_, somebody, _anybody_…please just help me…_save_ me."

She screams and kicks when multiple hands try to pull her down from the fence she is climbing. The hands manage to wrap around her damaged leg and pull her down slamming her into the floor.

They claw at her, pull at her hair, tear at her clothes, each trying to rip the flesh from her body for themselves. She can smell and hear more of them coming and she shrieks, screams, and cries trying to escape.

They do not like the noise she is making or the struggle she is putting up in order not to get bitten, so they do the only thing they can think of doing.

They slam her face against the concrete ground until she quiets down.

She can feel the blood running down her face, and her consciousness starting to slip away.

She recoils in surprise when the head of a mindless monster is blown to pieces. The sound of a gun still resounding in her ears; that is all she hears before finally letting the pain fade away her senses. She blacks out to the sound of a lone gun, and the sight of the undead being blown into bloody pieces around her.

The last thing she sees is the tall silhouette of a man on the roof, a shotgun carelessly thrown over his shoulder.

_Thank …you…  
><em>

* * *

><p><strong>endnote: <strong>so_ooo_, what do you think? of this?…of me?…but mostly of _that_ thing, you just finished reading.

_edit: 02182013_


	2. you can't catch me

**chapter title:** you can't catch me  
><strong>summary: <strong>—_in which __he takes aim, shoots, and saves her  
><em>**note:** ichigo is a _badass_.

* * *

><p>His day starts out like any other.<p>

He is sent out to search for survivors who need help, but like any other day he finds none. They also look for supplies, but that isn't part of his job. It is night when his shift is done, it is up to the next person up to continue his search rounds.

On his way back to the base his training kicks in, he catches the scent before he actually hears or sees them. He is trained to travel by roof-top—which is fairly easy in town whose buildings and houses are jammed together–so he is safe. He would have ignored the creatures normally but they are acting _strange_, all of them have a look of hunger on their faces. The look they have is more crazed and frenzied than usual; that is enough to spike his curiosity. They only have that look when there is a human on the ground, and by the looks of it seems like that human is injured.

He follows the creature instead of the visible trail of human blood streaked across the walls and floor of the small alley. And he hopes that he makes it in time to save that human before the creatures rip them apart, or worse.

He does not know for how much longer he will have to run, but with every sprint of his legs his anticipation and trepidation grow. He runs ahead, no longer following the creatures once he knows where he is and, because if he has to both fight and save someone then this alley instantly becomes a death trap for the both of them. There is no way out of it but climbing or running into a hoard of the ravenous undead. He calculates his plan of attack while running, if there is one thing he has learned in this fucked up world is that he should prepare for the worst and plan ahead.

He reaches the chain-link fence, marking the dead end. The person who got stuck must have not known there would be one, and once they did they probably didn't realize how much of a climb it would be– especially injured. They had been caught unprepared and without a plan, but he would not be.

A couple of the creatures surround the person, but they fight with each other over who is to get the first bite. None of the monsters have the time to react when he shoots, barely aiming, and blows the head of the one closest to biting. He curses when his next shot misses and ricochets off the wall. When it seems like he has gotten the attention of the monsters off of the person, he moves closer to the edge and begins to shoot at them one by one, like sitting ducks.

They never stood a chance against him to begin with.

When he has gotten rid of them all his twin hand guns are still in their holster and his shotgun is slung on his shoulder carelessly. Before he jumps down, he barely hears the _thank you_, or sees the look the person he has just saved gives him—which he now see is a girl—before they pass out, just a heap on the floor. The look she gave him is one of awe, as if he were an illusion, as if she is surprised that anyone would even bother to come to her rescue.

He lets out a deeply frustrated sigh, before quickly taking out his hand gun, and shooting behind him—straight into the forehead of a zombie. It is not surprising that one would try and get him from behind while he is distracted.

"These things aren't even worth it," he groans, as he mentally calculates how much ammunition rations he has left, but hopefully bringing in a survivor would get him so ammo coupons.

He slings his shotgun in his back, making sure that it is not loaded, as he strides over to the girl.

He checks her pulse point on her wrist, to make sure she has not died of exhaustion, blood loss, or sheer shock. He feels it flutter, it is barely there, beating too slow for his comfort. Seeing all the blood he inspects her wounds to make sure she has not been bitten, and if she has he will have to regrettably kill the girl. He cannot afford to risk and expose the others to the dangers of bringing a bitten person.

An unexpected sigh of relief leaves him when he is finished inspecting the wounds, none of them resemble anything close to bite marks. But the doctors would be able to make a more definitive assessment.

He tries to wake her, it would be easier to transport her back to base, but the girl is fully unconscious. He catches sight of her injured leg though, there would have been no way she could have moved on it anyways.

"Guess I'll have to carry you then…" he says, carefully placing her over his shoulders, he does not want to cause anymore damage to this frail looking girl.

With that done, he makes his way over to the fence, there is a hole at the far corner, hidden behind a large dumpster. He begins his trek back to base, his pace quickening, knowing that his gunshots will have alerted the entire living dead population to his current location.

The last thing he wants is to be caught by ravenous zombies, especially with the wounded girl.

He is hopeful though, more so than he has been in a long time. Saving and protecting a fellow survivor has that effect on him. If a person who looks like this girl can survive on her own then there is probably a multitude of survivors in the surrounding cities. They can rebuild, perhaps even eradicate the disease that made people come back to life with an unsatisfied appetite for those still living. When he gets back to base he knows that the others will feel the same. This girl will give them all a new reason to begin exploring the outlying cities and towns.

This girl is the renewed source of hope, for the hopeless.

* * *

><p><strong>endnote:<strong> i was seeing how long i could go without having to write the actual word _zombie_ inside the story, but there are only so many words you can use.

_edit: 10012012; _thanks to **boudour** for catching my mistake. (:


	3. wake up, break down, and fall out

**chapter title: **wake up, break down, and fall out  
><strong>summary:<strong> —_they both take a leap of faith, while she makes a mad dash and he holds on.  
><em>**listening to: **wake you up (original mix) —coven.  
><strong>note:<strong> this is 5 pages, on word. whoa! this is an achievement for me.  
><strong>note2:<strong> i hate dialogue. _wait_, let me reiterate, i _suck_ at dialogue.

* * *

><p>She dreams sometimes, but they are more like nightmare. Nightmares that make her choke on her own screams, nightmares that are her reality. She wakes up in her own nightmare, where the dead eat the living, and where the living kill the living for everything and anything that lets them survive just a little longer.<p>

This is her nightmare that makes living a terror and death isn't even an escape.

Sometimes though, when she sleeps she imagines that someone arrives, maybe a prince or knight, and rescues her from her prison tower of nightmares. That someone, anyone really, will also save everyone and they will end the plague that is the living dead. This _delusion_ only happens sometimes though, when she sleeps and she hasn't slept—not really at least—in a very long time.

Until today that is, because right now she is sleeping. At least she thinks she is…maybe she's dead, finally. For someone like her, it is surprising that she has lasted so long in a world like this one.

_Ah, but dying wouldn't feel like this_…she thinks. Not that she has ever died but she is sure that even death is enough to numb her pain. Pain, pain, so much _pain_ everywhere. Her leg…her leg! And that's when she panics, because maybe this is what resurrecting feels like; to die and then come back with an insatiable hunger for living _human_ flesh. Because maybe, just _maybe_, she had finally gone insane when the monsters had attacked her and she had dreamt up that someone had saved her when in reality she had been dying the entire time.

If that had happened though, she wouldn't feel so alive because even though pain hurts, pain is the one that lets you know that you're still alive.

She realizes at that moment that she is alive, and she is just waking up from a slumber. As she comes out of her dazed state-of-mind, she squints her eyes at the brightness. Her eyes open slowly to _white_ ceiling, to _white_ walls, to _white_ sheets, everything is brightly _white_ and it reminds her of a hospital.

She dislikes hospital _immensely_ and dislike for her is something that she rarely, if ever, feels. She takes in gasping breathes of air, one after another, and she begins to hyperventilate because the room is _too white_ and _too small_ and she doesn't like it. She doesn't like _not_ liking it.

She lifts herself up from the bed, her breathing quick and labored, takes one look at all the IVs, tubes and wires, and hospital monitoring machines and panics even more. She rips the IVs out of herself, barely registering the pain or blood. She rips the wires and tube from her body, not caring if she is messy. She pushes the machines away, even as they beep! beep! _BEEEP_! So, relentlessly that it makes her cover her ears, like a madwoman. She trips when white sheets tangle around her feet and she can't get them off, they wrap around her like constricting snakes.

The beeping of the machines hasn't just bothered her though, because people come rushing into her room trying to calm her but she can't. She just _can't_. Everything is wrong, and nothing is right. She dodges hands that grab at her, trying to restrain her from hurting herself or others further.

They tell her to calm down and that everything is alright in hushed tones but everything is _far_ from being alright.

She makes a mad dash for the door, and collides into something hard. She realizes that, that something hard is a chest, and that the man of said chest is holding her to him, pining her arms down.

She kicks, screams, a wild scream that even she can't recognize, but still he doesn't let go and she can't move her arms. So, she does the only thing she can think of doing to get way. She _bites_. She sinks her teeth into his neck, and she can feel him wince but his hold doesn't falter. She feels when she bites so hard it makes him bleed, she tastes the blood and she feels like puking at the metallic taste. She dislikes blood as well, the smell of it, the sight of it, and now she is able to say _the taste of it_. Apparently, so does everyone else in the room the moment they see it.

And then everyone is shouting at him, some for his stupidity and others his name (she thinks it's his name) and he's shouting back at them to _shut the fuck up_ because he knows what he's doing. He murmurs softly to her, in a reassuring tone that _everything is alright now_, that no one will hurt her.

His voice, it is something about his voice that makes her believe him. It is the way he says it, the sincerity, the outright concern and worry that makes her tremble because it's been so long since she's heard someone sound like that. Before she can stop it, she is crying, sobbing as her teeth release his neck and he loosens his hold. She sobs into his chest and doesn't stop until her throat is raw, and the pain in her right leg leaves her unable to stand. She is exhausted, her sobs have turned into small gasps and hiccups.

Everyone steps away from her when he leads her to her bed, helping her into it and placing her sheets back onto cover her. He speaks to the others in the room, which she now sees are a couple of nurses.

"Call Ryūken in here, _now_."

The nurses hurry out of the room, not wanting to incur the wrath of…wait what was his name?

"Um, w-wait what's…yourrr...name?" she asks, slurring a bit, her tongue feels heavy, and her head hurts. Everything hurts.

"Kurosaki. _Ichigo_ Kurosaki," he tells her, holdings pressure to the bleeding vein in her arm from where she has pulled the IVs out of.

"Mmm...I-I'm, uh, Inoue-ah," she frowns, it is becoming increasingly harder to talk or think properly, "Orihime…"

He gives her a reassuring smile, before turning to shout at a nurse that passes by her door, "Where the hell is Ryūken?!" Making the nurse jump and hurry to find him.

If she this were another world she would have been blushing in embarrassment at his concern for her, but in this world there is no room for emotions like love. She does think that he is handsome though, his hair is a conspicuous color but she likes that, and his eyes are something else. And she blushes when he catches her staring at him. He is about to say something when someone comes into the room, rushing over to her. She flinches back at first when he touches her to put the IVs back into her and reconnect the machines.

"What happened?" This man seems to wastes no time in questions that aren't important.

"I don't know. I got here when the nurses were trying to calm her down."

He spares a glance at Kurosaki, his eyes focusing on his neck before going back to her. He calls a nurse in before sending her off to retrieve something. When she comes back she hands him a needle. She begins to panic again, but the man tells Kurosaki Ichigo to restrain her. He hesitates but does what he is told. She struggles at first but he has already proved himself to be stronger than her so, she thinks there is no point in fighting the inevitable.

The man, _Ryūken_, inserts the needle and pushes whatever is in it into her. It might be a poison, it might be an anesthetic that he has given her. If she wakes up she will wake up knowing better than to trust anyone, no matter how sincere their voice is. If she does not wake up, then she hopes that she becomes a ghost so she can haunt Kurosaki Ichigo for eternity.

Her senses fade and the last thing she sees is the face of Kurosaki Ichigo; the face of a traitor. As she slips into a state of unconsciousness, all she can hear is his voice and words; the voice and words of a deceiver.

" _Everything is alright now_,_ no one will hurt you__..."_

And the last thing she thinks is: _LIAR…!_

* * *

><p>They told him that they would call him if the girl woke up after he brought her and checked her into the hospital. So, he sat down in the waiting room and before long drifted off in a slumber. He is tired both mentally and physically exhausted from saving the girl and the trip back to base. He shaken awake by a nurse, telling him that there are problems with the girl he brought in.<p>

He rushes off before the nurse finishes explaining.

When he gets to her room the girl is freaking out and lashing out at everyone, like a trapped-rabid animal. She runs into him and he holds her to him, causing her to let out wild scream. The scream doesn't faze him though. The girl seems to take note and does what she can to escape. He winces when he feels her teeth sink into his neck, she bites hard enough to make him bleed. He can feel her shudder in disgust when she gets a taste of his blood. It is when everyone else sees the blood that they begin to panic, because maybe Kurosaki has brought in an infected person.

The nurses in the room shout orders at him and he does the only thing he can.

"_Shut the fuck up_! I know what I'm doing!" he yells.

He knows that he shouldn't yell at the nurses they are only trying to help but they are being annoying. The important thing though, at the moment, is the girl he holds in his arms. He needs to try and calm her down. So, he does the only thing he can think of doing.

"It's okay, it's okay, everything is alright now. I won't let anyone hurt you," saying it all in the most reassuring tone he can manage.

He thinks though it comes out more worried than anything else, he wants to cringe at the concern he shows to a complete stranger. Soft emotions, like worry and concern, are unacceptable—they are enough to get him killed.

He feels the girl tremble in his arms, and he is surprised that his words were enough to calm her down. He panics when she begins to cry and sob, but he calms down because he has handled worse things than a crying girl. His sisters cry all the time! (only one of them, but still she cried enough for the other one).

_Ha! A crying girl is nothing to what I've faced on the outside._

So, he loosens his hold on her as her teeth let go of his neck and holds her until she stops, and all you can hear are her small gasps and hiccups. He leads her to her bed, helping her into it and placing her sheets back on to cover her. Once the girl is settled he turns on the nurses.

"Call Ryūken in here, _now_."

And all of them scramble to get out of the room.

"Um, w-wait what's…yourrr...name?" the girl asks, her words slurring.

"Kurosaki. _Ichigo_ Kurosaki," he tells her, going to her side and placing pressure on the bleeding vein on her arm.

"Mmm...I-I'm, uh, Inoue-ah…Orihime…" she replies, a frown forming on her face.

_It must be hard for her to talk_. She had lost a lot of blood by pulling out her IVs like she had.

He offers her a small smile, one he hopes is reassuring. He hasn't smiled in a long time. He turns to shout at a passing nurse to ask her why Ryūken isn't there, yet. The nurse jumps and runs to find him, _hopefully_—the nurses could be incompetent at times.

He wants to sigh in exhaustion, this day has been tiring. He cannot imagine how tired the girl—_Inoue_—must be. It isn't just _girl_ anymore, she has told him her name and he should make an effort to remember it. He turns to look at her and finds her staring at him, causing her to blush and turn away. If this had been a normal place, a normal time, a normal _anything_, he would have blushed in return instead he opens his mouth to say—.

He turns towards the door as someone rushes in, going immediately to the girl's side.

_Ugh, Inoue, Inoue, _Inoue_. I have to remember that._

He watches as _Inoue_ flinches back from Ryūken when he touches her arms, inserting the IV's back in and reconnecting the machines. Ryūken isn't someone who wastes his time on the unimportant so he immediately asks him what happened.

"I don't know. I got here when the nurses were trying to calm her down."

The older man shoots him a glance, his eyes settling on his neck, before focusing his attention back on _Inoue_. Ichigo feels a sense of trepidation growing as his hand moves up to his neck, he doesn't remember having anything—_the bite mark_. Inoue bit him.

Ryūken calls out to one of the nurses, he wouldn't take any chance of having someone infected in his hospital. And there is nothing Ichigo can do stop the man. If he decided to exterminate the girl—there was no point in remembering her name—she would be dead.

No one in the survivor colony questions Ryūken's authority, he is one of their leaders. No matter how much Ichigo wants to say _No, stop it! I didn't save her only for you to kill her! _He can't, he can't do anything.

In this world where everything is chaos, order and authority must have a place. If he spoke out, how long until others began questioning the leaders' authority? No one would be able to survive long in chaos.

So, he could do nothing as a nurse entered the room and handed Ryūken a needle. A needle probably filled with a poison. He can do nothing as Ryūken tells him to restrain the girl, all he can do is as he is told though he hesitates to do it. _Inoue _struggles against him, but stops because she must already know that there is no point in fighting the inevitable. Ichigo is the strong one, he has already proven that.. And it makes him feel _disgusted_, because he should be using his strength to protect those he has saved, not to kill them.

He looks away from her, from the needle being inserted into her, because he can't stand the look she gives him as he holds her down—even though he doesn't need to or want to. Because he already knows what she is thinking without having to see that look—he is a treacherous liar.

He only risks looking at her face when he knows that she has closed her eyes, as if she is sleeping but he knows that she isn't. Ryūken would not allow the risks implied in letting her live.

He is pulled out of his thoughts by a hand twisting his face to an angle. It is Ryūken, examining the bite mark. He struggles against the older man's hold, he doesn't feel like being examined.

"Tch. Settle down, boy. You're worse than Uryū."

"And you're just as annoying as my dad," he retorts.

Watching in satisfaction as Ryūken stiffens. If he had been trying to get a rise out of Ichigo by comparing him to his son, Uryū, then he has failed because Ichigo had compared him to his father. If there is anything that Ichigo knows annoys the older Ishida the most is being compared to Isshin Kurosaki.

"_Brat_," he finally says, giving him a glare.

Ryūken doesn't stop though, he places a bandage on Ichigo's wound before taping it down. He also tries to give him a shot for the bite but Ichigo refuses it, he doesn't feel like taking care of himself right now. Ryūken must notice that he is moping because he keeps staring at him.

"What?" he hisses, he hates being observed by him and his son. Though he can handle Uryū, he can't stand Ryūken observing him. The man's stare is colder than ice.

"Wipe that look off of your face, it makes you look like your idiot father."

"Fuck y-"

"She isn't dead."

"_What_?"

"The girl."

"But you—_didn't_ you?"

"No. If you had been paying even a minimal ounce of attention, you would have noticed that the machines didn't flat line."

"What did you give her then?"

"Anesthetic. As much as _you_ enjoy getting bitten, _I_ do not." He says, placing a cigarette in his mouth and lilting it—purposefully exhaling the smoke in Ichigo's face.

"..."

"Now get out and let my patient rest."

Ichigo leaves the hospital, only because Ryūken has him escorted out by security guards. He is _relieved_ though. She isn't dead. _Inoue Orihime_ is alive.

He heads home, his steps lighter than they've been in _years_.

* * *

><p><strong>endnote:<strong> i like writing in ichigo's perspective he's _easy_. (heh.)  
><strong>endnote2: <strong>ryūken ishida was a _bitch_ to write  
><strong>endnote3:<strong> _fudge_, i'm losing focus. i was going somewhere with this, lemme think, yo~

_edit: 12042012_


	4. the dawn of a new day

**chapter title: **the dawn of a new day  
><strong>summary:<strong> —_they both wake up and they realize that nothing will ever be the same again.__  
><em>**note:** wow. i am late. feel free to throw insults and slap me around. writers block and real life though, am i right? /hysterical laughter... /gross sobbing  
><strong>note2:<strong> where were we? _oh yes._

* * *

><p><em>There had been so much pain, so much screaming, so much agony, so much crying, so much blood, so much rotting flesh, and so much <em>death_ in the air that day. Things had been irrevocably changed. The day the world started to burn. That day, that _goddamned_ day, had ripped everyone's world apart. It had ripped his world apart—it had torn it into unrecognizable pieces._

_._

"_RUN!"_

_._

"ICHIGO_, RUN!"_

_A scream, pierced the air, like a banshee. Had it been mother's or child's? Or had it been _neither_?_

_._

"_MOTHER!"_

_And the child ran, because he was an obedient child, because he was _afraid_. There wasn't a person in the world that hadn't been afraid. He was ten when his mother died. He was ten when he killed her__._

.

.

He wakes up, shouting in panic. His breathing is heavy. He is gasping for air. He holds a hand to his chest, trying to calm the erratic pace of his heartbeat.

"Ugh, what was I dreaming about?" he groans, burying his face into his hands.

He tries desperately to remember. It hadn't felt like a dream...it had felt like a _memory_.

He spares a glance to the digital clock resting on his nightstand. He swears when he see the time, 3:00 AM. He throws his bed covers off deciding that he won't be getting much sleep. Besides, he has to get up in two hours anyway. He shuffles around in his drawers; selecting a black turtleneck, jeans, a pair of brightly colored socks, and briefs. He heads to the bathroom to take a shower.

He flicks the lights on, setting his clothes down besides the sink.

He goes to the shower, turning the knob for hot water, and growls when no water comes out of the shower head —why did it have to do this every damn time? He thought the old man had fixed it. He fiddles with the knob, wiggling it every which way until the shower head finally lets out spurts of water.

He undresses, folding his sleep clothes neatly and setting them besides his day clothes. He stretches out a hand to feel the temperature of the water. When it is warm enough, he takes his last remaining piece of clothing off and throws it into the dirty laundry basket.

Ichigo steps inside the shower. He closes his eyes, letting the warm water hit his body soothingly. This is the time of day he likes the most. It doesn't require thinking or analyzing, and it definitely doesn't require _any_ action. It's just him taking a shower. He can forget for awhile what is waiting for him outside. It is fifteen minutes of nothing. But, like all good things, it is only momentary.

He shampoos. He scrubs. He washes and cleans himself. He steps out. He dries himself. He changes into his clothes. And he steps out of the bathroom.

It's time to start the day.

* * *

><p>She wakes up. She feels tired...<em>lethargic<em>. She opens her eyes blearily and sees the same sight as last time. This time though, she doesn't freak out. She is too tired to freak out. At least she's alive. She almost feels relieved. Except, she remembers exactly what kind of world she's woken up to.

She tries to lift her arm but she can't. She is left to wonder what type of drug that doctor, that _Ryūken_, administered. She lets out a shuddering sigh. She tries sitting up but finds that she can't.

_What...?_ Her eyes widen.

She looks down at her body. She's tied down. They tied her down to the bed. Her breathing quickens as she continues to struggle against the restraints.

The heart monitor begins to beep louder. Quicker. Frenzied.

Her altered vitals will alert the nurses. They'll drug her again. She has to get out before that. She can already hear the footsteps making their way to her room. She continues to struggle. She has to get out. Why can't she get out?

The footsteps are approaching faster. The door to the room is slid open in a hurry. Someone is at her side.

"H-hey, calm down!" And that's when she recognizes the voice. Kurosaki.

He tries to hold her shoulder to stop her from struggling, "Don't. _Touch_. Me." Her words seems to do what she wants. He steps back from her.

"I'll go get Ryūken," his voice indifferent. And then he's gone.

She tries to calm down because she doesn't want to be drugged again. This is her second outburst, like a temperamental child, and he must be getting tired of her. She tries to slow her breathing. In through the nose, out through the mouth.

_Inhale, exhale, just calm down. I need to calm down._

She quits struggling when Kurosaki and another man, one who looks like a younger Ryūken, come into her room. Kurosaki looks annoyed.

"I asked for Ryūken not _you_."

"My father left. Some of us need rest, we aren't monsters like you, _Kurosaki_." The man adjusts his glasses.

"Shut your goddamn mouth, _Ishida_." Kurosaki growls.

Orihime feels the need to intervene. She can see the way both their shoulders are tense, prepared to fight. She doesn't think she can handle any more bloodshed.

"Um..."

"If you're just going to be causing problems for me then I suggest you leave, Kurosaki."

She is being completely ignored.

"You're my problem. So, why don't we just take this outside?"

"I have no desire to go anywhere with you."

She tries again, "Excuse me?"

"Ha! You scared, prissy bastard? Heh, never mind, you always have been a little p—Ugh!"

Orihime gasps and shuts her eyes when she sees _Ishida _strike out at Kurosaki. She opens her eyes hesitantly and feels relieved that Kurosaki caught the other man's fist.

The man, _Ishida_, is quick to pull his hand back. "You never did learn when to shut your trap Kurosaki!"

They both look very angry now. Orihime just wants to get out of her restrains _not_ witness a bloodbath.

"I said: Excuse me!"

"_SHUT UP!"_ Kurosaki and Ishida both shout at her; perfect synchronization.

She opens her mouth in shock. She feels a little annoyed. It is them that should be quiet, not her. She just wants to get these restrains off of her. At least, they both realize their mistake at having told her to _shut up_. They both look embarrassed.

_Ishida_ pushes his glasses up from the bridge of his nose, "Don't copy me, Kurosaki."

"_Whaaat?!_"

_Ishida _ignores Kurosaki to introduces himself to her, "Inoue-san, my name is Ishida Uryū."

"Nice to meet you...but can I be untied?"

"I'm sorry but my father gave direct orders to—"

Kurosaki interrupts him, "Shut up. Of course you can, Inoue. Give me the key Ishida."

He holds his hand out but Ishida does not give him the key to her restrains. She watches Kurosaki's eye twitch before he takes Ishida by the collar and outside her room. She sighs. They come back after a few minutes. Ishida looks annoyed, a little disheveled, but otherwise alright. Kurosaki is holding a key and wearing a smirk. She can't help but smile.

She squirms as he unlocks and unties her restrains. She can't wait to get out, out, out! She pushes herself up when they are all off. She throws her legs over the side of the bed and wriggles her toes. She gasps when pain shoots through her left lower leg. It's bandaged. She does not pull away when Ishida kneels, takes her leg and starts examine it.

"You came in with a minor concussion and a gash in your leg, which is more superficial than anything. But judging by the swelling you must have torn some of the muscle fibers in your calf. You need to rest this leg. I'll show you how to tape it, that it'll reduce the pain and prevent it from further injury. Gently massaging might help as well...and once the pain has gone away you can begin using it progressively." He releases her leg and stands.

"How long will it take until it's fully healed?"

"At the least, five to eight week, maybe more. It all depends on how your body heals."

"I can't stay here for that long!"

She ignores the strange look from both men.

Kurosaki snorts derisively , "Where did you plan on going? You have someone waiting for you out there?"

She doesn't like his tone. What does he know anyway?

"It's none of your concern," she says, her face forming into a small frown.

His face goes from mocking to indifferent. Orihime doesn't like the way his eyes flash at her. He has no right to be angry with her. They are strangers, not friends or anything close like that.

"I think it _is_ my concern since I risked my life to save your ass."

Ah, so he's the one she saw before falling unconscious. That doesn't mean he has the right to chose what she does though.

"I'm grateful for that but it doesn't mean you have a say in what I do."

"I wasn't saying I did but only a suicidal idiot would go out there on their own. I didn't save you just so you could get yourself killed or turned!"

"I'm not a suicidal idiot! You don't know anything about me to decide whether I'll get myself killed or turned! And why do you even care? We don't know each other enough for you to care!"

Her breathing is heavy. She's never gotten this angry. She _rarely_ gets angry. She doesn't like being underestimated, doesn't like being doubted. She's survived this long without his or anyone else's help for that matter! He is nobody to underestimate her, to think that she'll get killed or turned. She isn't that weak. His help isn't required. She wants to make that clear. She is nobody to him.

_But he saved you_, a voice in the back of her head says, _He saved you and he didn't have to_. _He saved you._

That doesn't mean he cares. Why would he care about someone like her? She's nobody to him. She is nobody. He has no reason to care. He doesn't care. He must want something in return. Everyone wants something in return. _He doesn't care_. He definitely doesn't care about her. He can't...can he?

She looks up at him, meets his gaze, and is startled. He is furious. She can see it in his eyes and she can practically feel it in the air.

_If he doesn't care then why is he so angry?_ The little voice says.

Stop it. Stops it. Stop it. _Stop it!_

She bites the inside of her cheek. She is going to regret this.

"I'm sorry..." she whispers, wrapping her arms around herself protectively, "I'm being unreasonable."

Kurosaki seems to deflate at her words. His anger slowly sizzling away. The room doesn't feel as suffocating.

"I'll...I'll stay but only until my leg is healed and then..." And then she'll see. She'll see if he actually cares or if he wants something in return. Besides, he's right about her not having anyone on the outside. And she doubts she can get very far with her leg.

He clears his throat making her attention go back to him.

"Alright. Well get dressed—"

"I don't have any clothes."

"Uh...I'll go get you some."

She tilts her head at the slight blush on his face before saying, "Thank you."

"Anyway, let's go Ishida! I'm sure there's paperwork for me to sign."

"Of course there's paperwork. I can't just hand her over to you."

"Wait, what?" she says, looking from one man to the other, "Hand me over?!"

Kurosaki throws her a guilty look, scratching the back of his head, "Yeah. As of today you're remanded into my custody."

She crawls back into bed and goes underneath her covers. Ignoring Kurosaki's words of, _come on it isn't that bad! it's not like there's a huge selection of people that can take you in. and besides, nobody else would take you. you bit me and attacked the nurses!_

She pulls the covers tighter around herself. She has the worst luck.

_What a great way to start the day_, she thinks glumly.

* * *

><p><strong>endnote: <strong>i...have nothing to say besides I LOVE YOU THANK YOU FOR READING AND I'M REALLY SORRY /sobbing

_review, maybe? no? _okay._  
><em>_unedited: 02182013_


	5. azul

**chapter title: **azul  
><strong>summary:<strong> —don't cry, everything will be okay. let kindness dry those tears.  
><strong>word count: <strong>2980

**a/n**: i'm so ashamed that finishing this story is taking so long. i mean, i'd rather take it slow so i can do it right, than rush and do a bad job. i just wish my updates weren't so inconsistent:-( I WILL GET THIS DONE THO!

* * *

><p>Orihime steps out of the shower.<p>

Ishida had told her that she could, if she wanted, take one in the female staff's locker room before she left. She is grateful for that. She hadn't taken a shower with warm water in a long time.

She wraps a towel around herself and looks at the bundle of clothing on the bench waiting for her.

The sweater is a beige color, it looks warm and thick. The t-shirt lying on top of the sweater is cotton and white. The jeans are what people used to consider a good brand before and she can see why; they look really durable. The underclothing is simple and practical. It's more than she could ever ask for.

She dries herself with the towel before hurrying to put on the clothes. The clothes are as comfortable as they look. She hasn't worn comfortable clothes in so long. Her hair is still wet. She looks down at her feet and wriggles her toes—she needs socks and shoes. She wonders what happened to her old clothing and shoes. She should ask Kurosaki. She puts the towel around her shoulders and heads for the door.

She pushes it open hesitantly. Kurosaki said he'd be waiting just outside but what if he's gone? Should she go looking for him? Or should she wait for him? Then she sees orange and sighs in relief. She opens the door the rest of the way.

Kurosaki is sitting down, leaning against the wall. He turns when she opens the door and stands when she exits the room.

"You done?"

She nods.

"Alright, you hungry? We can go to the cafeteria if you are. Ishida gave me some food coupons for you."

Orihime begins to shake her head when her stomach betrays her by growling loudly. She flushes in embarrassment. She can feel her cheeks getting warmer when a corner of his mouth tugs up in amusement.

"I-it's not funny!" she huffs, stalking past him to the elevator.

He follows after her. She presses the button. She looks down to avoid his gaze while they wait for the elevator to arrive. She wriggles her toes again. The floor is cold.

"What happened to my things?" she looks up at him and frowns when he looks away from her quickly.

"Uh...well, they..._we_ burned them."

"Why?! They were still usable!"

He holds his hands up in defense, "They could've been carrying diseases! Ryūken didn't want to take the risk."

Orihime takes a breath to calm herself. Okay. She can understand that. She's almost scared to ask her next question "...and my shoes?"

"Also burned but don't worry, I'll get you some soon. For now you can wear these slippers."

"Thanks," she sighs tiredly, taking the slippers from him and putting them on.

The elevator bell dings, announcing that the elevator is here. The doors open and they both step inside quickly.

The silence is awkward and stifling in the elevator.

Orihime opens her mouth to say something but then the elevator shakes and the lights flicker at the same moment and she stumbles. Kurosaki catches her in his arms before she falls over.

"Careful," he breathes, holding her to him.

The elevator bell dings again to announce that they've arrived on their floor and she pushes away from him. She's thankful for that little bell because now, she doesn't have to think about how nice his arms felt or how his voice sent shivers down her spine or how hot her cheeks felt. She especially doesn't have to think about how such a simple and mundane thing had made her heart flutter rapidly.

"This way," he says, taking her elbow in his hand gently and leading her in the direction of the cafeteria. She can't help but notice the gentleness in which he treats her. It puzzles her. She just can't understand it.

This world they live in is cruel, ruthless, and ugly. It breeds suspicion not trust. It makes people cold and callous and untrusting. It doesn't make them gentle, doesn't make them kind—doesn't make them the way Kurosaki Ichigo is. His eyes aren't calculating like so many people's are. His eyes are warm—they make _her_ feel warm all over and she doesn't know why. She feels safe and protected with him, like in the elevator when she'd stumbled and he'd caught her—he'd put his arm around her so gently as if she'd break with too harsh of a touch—no one had ever held her like that except for her older brother and he's dead.

She doesn't like it.

She doesn't like the fact that she feels safe and protected around him because it's an illusion. This world isn't safe for anyone. One person shouldn't be enough to make her feel otherwise. It doesn't make any kind of sense. That is why it must be a trick. He must be a good liar to make her believe and make her feel things she hasn't felt before. He must want something because everyone wants something. Nothing is ever free.

So what does he want? Why is he so kind, so gentle, so warm, towards her? _Why?_

She certainly hasn't done anything to deserve his kindness.

He saved her when he didn't need to save her. He could have left her to be torn apart. He could have ignored her cries of help and avoided the risk of death, of _infection_, but he didn't. He saved her without even knowing her.

It doesn't make sense. She put his life at risk and yet he's kind. It doesn't make any sense. What does he want from her?

She grimaces, clutching the short locks of hair at her temple (had they really needed to cut so much?). _Ah_, it hurts to think. She makes a noise of discomfort. She forces a smile when Kurosaki looks at her worriedly. There's no need to have him hovering over her even more.

Well, for now, his motives aren't that important. She has other things to worry about. Like_, what kind of food do they serve in the cafeteria?_

"Hm, I _think_ today is grilled cheese. You can also have fruit and salad. It's simple, _plain_ really, but it's a lot more than what you can find outside."

Oops. She hadn't realized she'd spoken out loud.

"Anyway, sit down while I go get our food."

"Oh, you don't have to! I can—"

"Ishida said not to put too much strain on your leg. If your leg gets worse, the one he'll be angry at is _me_. So sit down and wait."

She is hesitant to accept. He's already done more than enough and she hadn't even walked on her leg all that much either! She opens her mouth to protest but bites her lip when she notices the look he has on. He is scowling adamantly, arms crossed. He looks determined. He won't let her do what she pleases. She already knows how stubborn he can be and he doesn't seem like he's going to budge on this matter.

"Okay," she sighs, and nods, "Thank you, Kurosaki-san."

She can't help but smile slightly when he smirks approvingly.

"It's no problem, Inoue. And it's fine to just call me Ichigo."

"Oh, that wouldn't be proper!"

She fidgets under his deadpan gaze.

"You're kidding, right?" he drawls, "I saved your life, carried you over rooftops to this hospital (which isn't easy by the way), let you bite me, and it isn't..._proper_ for you to call me Ichigo?"

She feels heat rise to her cheeks in embarrassment. That's uncalled for, she thinks. Besides, his first name is special, it should only be spoken by people he's close to, people he knows—people he _cares_ about. She just met him so it wouldn't be right to call him so familiarly. And, besides that, he's a hypocrite! He still calls her _Inoue! _Although, she hadn't told him to call her anything else. _Still_ she doesn't really feel like arguing with him over something like this. She'll concede..._kind of._

"Alright then. Thank you, _Kurosaki-kun_."

She walks away from him to find a table to sit at, smiling secretly at his sigh of defeat. A table in a corner, near a window, catches her attention. She sighs as she sits down. Her hand unconsciously goes to brush her hair, to twist a lock of it in her fingers, when she remembers they cut it. Her brother had always liked her hair long which is the main reason she had kept it to waist-length. It saddens her a little that it now goes up to her shoulders. It's logical though, to have it cut. She should have cut it a long time ago. Her hand brushes through her hair. It's strange. She feels like she's missing something...

She gasps. Her hairpins! They hadn't fallen when she'd gotten attacked had they? Oh no those were the last thing her brother had given her before dying. They were practically a part of her. If she'd lost them, it would be like losing a limb. She holds back her tears, trying to remember if they had fallen or not. Maybe Ichigo will know?

A tray of food is placed in front of her. She looks up. Ichigo's brow is knitted in concern. She looks down at her food, wiping her eyes discreetly. She feels a hand on her head.

"You okay?" he says softly.

He shouldn't be so kind, she thinks. She wipes at her eyes again, sniffling. She can't believe she's about to cry in front of him (because of him) again.

"Um, I don't know. I...when you saved me was I wearing hairpins? They were—"

His hand retracts, "Oh! Yeah, I got them before Ryūken could destroy them. They looked pretty important."

She lets the tears fall then.

He really shouldn't be so kind to her.

* * *

><p>Ichigo doesn't know what to expect when he tells her that she is remanded into his custody. A little gratitude seems okay to him, he'd also understand annoyance. He is a little insulted that what he gets is despair. He isn't <em>that<em> bad is he?

Whatever. There's nothing else to be done. She'd just have to deal with it.

And she does.

After the initial reaction, she does not put up any sort of complaint. He'd be glad about it— since the majority of the people he knows would have thrown a fit and fought him all the way—except she gets quiet and looks a little sad. He doesn't like that for some reason. He _should_ care less about this girl's emotional state but he just can't. He's stupid like that, everyone says. Stupidly kind. It annoys Ichigo a lot. Everything he does seems pretty normal to him. Anyone would do what he does, is what he thinks.

It doesn't matter though. He has other things to do besides worry about what people think of him. Like, what does Inoue want to eat once she's done showering? She deserves a good meal.

The hospital cafeteria isn't known for its' variety of foods. When you've been out in the mess Inoue had been out in though, everything tastes like something a king would eat.

He hears the door to the women locker room open. Inoue steps out, drying her once long and now short hair. Ichigo feels guilty that they had to cut so much but Ryūken told him it'd be easier than trying to untangle the mess it had become. He also feels guilty because they had to put all her belongings in the incinerator, he hopes she doesn't ask about it. The only thing he'd managed to sneak away from Ryūken's wrathful gaze had been a pair of turquoise hair pins, shaped like hibiscus flowers. They had looked important, _too_ important to let burn. He could feel them in his pocket now.

Anyway, he should ask Inoue if she's hungry.

She says no, but then her stomach growls and Ichigo has to hold back a laugh.

They head to the elevators. He watches her look down at the floor and wriggles her toes before curling them. Her feet are small, he notes. He doesn't know why the thought of how small her feet are (and how small _she_ is) makes him flush.

Ichigo has to look away quickly when she looks up.

"Where are my things?"

He tells her.

Her reaction is exactly what he thought it would be. He hands her a pair of slippers when she asks about her shoes. For now they are better than nothing. It gets quiet after that.

The elevator is worse. The silence is stifling. Then the elevator lights flicker and the elevator shakes. _Great_. Someone really needed to fix these things. Although, ever since the world went to the dumps, they'd been short of elevator maintenance people.

Out of the corner of his eye he sees Inoue lurch forward with the elevator. He reacts on instinct. He catches her before she can fall.

"Careful," he says.

The elevator bell dings and the doors open. Inoue practically runs out, trying to get away from him.

She is looking around, when Ichigo takes her by the elbow and leads her to the cafeteria. He sense how uncomfortable she is at his touch though and lets her go. He doesn't want to scare her off. She's in a strange place surrounded by strange people. She doesn't know who to trust. Even more likely, she doesn't know _how_ to trust, not anymore. This world makes people frightened, cautious of every move, and extremely distrustful of everything. Ichigo doesn't want to ruin his chances of getting her to trust him and open up on her own terms.

He doesn't think too much on it though, because Inoue asks him what kind of food they have in the cafeteria.

"Hm, I _think_ today is grilled cheese. You can also have fruit and salad. It's simple, _plain_ really, but it's a lot more than what you can find outside."

She stands there, silently.

"Anyway, sit down while I go get our food."

Inoue begins to protest. Ichigo shuts that down immediately. Both Ryūken and Uryū will throttle him if he lets Inoue's injury get any worse. He can already hear them yelling at him. He does not want to think about the pain they will put him through for not taking care of his ward.

It doesn't look like she's going to give in but she does. "Okay. Thank you, Kurosaki-san."

She smiles and Ichigo thinks that he'd like to see her smile more. As long as she doesn't call him _Kurosaki-san. _That just reminds him of his father. He almost shudders at the though of being like him. He tells her it's fine to just call him Ichigo.

"Oh, that wouldn't be proper!" She says, fidgeting.

_Why_. Ichigo almost asks. He can't believe this girl.

"You're kidding, right?" he drawls, "I saved your life, carried you over rooftops to this hospital (which isn't easy by the way), let you bite me, and it isn't..._proper_ for you to call me Ichigo?"

"Alright, _Kurosaki-kun."_

Ichigo almost says something about that too but he catches sight of her smile as she walks away to sit down, and decides to just leave it be. Being called _Kurosaki-kun_ isn't so bad. Also, he calls her _Inoue_ and not _Orihime_ so he can't really complain about it.

He heads off in the opposite direction to get their food.

When he walks he feels something poking him in his pant's pocket. He remembers the hairpins. He'll give them to her once he gets their food.

The line for the food isn't big. The cafeteria is pretty empty too. Which is surprising for lunch time. It's is likely that they got their early though. Ichigo counts himself lucky. Now, they could eat without being disturbed by nosy people. He doubts that Inoue would have felt comfortable being overwhelmed by questions from strangers.

As Ichigo makes his way to where Inoue is seated, two trays full of food in his hands, he sees her looking at the table. As he gets closer, he sees tears glistening in her eyes.

He places her food in front of her, hoping to distract her so she won't cry. Ichigo _does not _handle crying girls well. Once had been a fluke of some sort.

She looks up and then down at the food again.

"Are you okay?" he asks, careful to keep his voice low. He has his hand on her head. He hadn't realized he'd done that.

She sniffles and wipes at her eyes, "Um, I don't know. I...when you saved me was I wearing hairpins? They were—"

It feels like a light goes off in his brain, He takes back his hand from her head, "Oh! Yeah, I got them before Ryūken could destroy them. They looked pretty important."

And then, Inoue starts to cry, and Ichigo doesn't know what to do or what he did to cause this. All he knows is that he can hear people coming in and he doesn't want them to see her cry. He pulls her out of the chair and hugs her. Not once does he think about his actions or the consequences. Somehow, she made him forget. He just wants her to not be sad and this is the only thing he can think of to stop her crying.

Inoue tense up in his arms before she sobs and clings on to him.

Ichigo feels his heart break a little.

"Don't cry," he says.

The cafeteria is full now and he can hear people whispering. He doesn't care.

"Everything is gonna be okay now so don't cry, Inoue."

Her hairpins glitter on the table. They remind him of her tears and he hugs her tighter.

_Everything will be okay_.

* * *

><p><strong>note: <strong>will proofread and fix mistakes later, i'm so tried right now.


End file.
